The push press is a commonly seen exercise in many bodybuilding, strength training and general fitness routines. While it may not be as popular as the strict standing military press, it still has many benefits. Push presses are performed by holding a barbell at shoulder height, bending your knees slightly, then simultaneously straightening your legs, while forcefully pushing the bar overhead, until your arms are fully extended.

Muscles Worked

The push press is a compound exercise, meaning it involves the movement of more than one joint, and works multiple muscle groups. The main muscles worked when push pressing are your shoulders and triceps. This is the same as a standard overhead press. However, due to the leg movement involved, push presses also work your quadriceps, glutes and hamstrings. Your abdominals and lower back muscles also have to work to keep your torso stable and prevent excessive spinal arching.

Nervous System Activation

Strength coach Christian Thibaudeau explains in his book, "The Black Book of Training Secrets," that push presses are an effective way to activate your central nervous system. Quick, explosive movements like push presses fire up your CNS, and when this is activated, your body is primed to lift heavy weights. Three or four sets of two to five reps of heavy push presses performed at speed at the start of your session can increase performance for the rest of the workout.

Olympic Weightlifting

Many Olympic weightlifters use the push press as a main exercise in training. While they don't compete in the push press, they do perform the clean and jerk in competition. The jerk is similar to a push press except both feet leave the floor and then one ends in front of the other. Jim Schmitz, former USA weightlifting coach and author of "Olympic Style Weightlifting" recommends performing push presses toward the end of your session for three to five sets of three to five reps to improve your clean and jerk performance.

Resources

"The Black Book of Training Secrets": Christian Thibaudeau: 2007

About the Author

Mike Samuels started writing for his own fitness website and local publications in 2008. He graduated from Peter Symonds College in the UK with A Levels in law, business and sports science, and is a fully qualified personal trainer, sports massage therapist and corrective exercise specialist with accreditations from Premier Global International.